Abstract In this paper, in order to solve the interface-trap issue and enhance the transconductance induced by high-k dielectric in metal--insulator--semiconductor (MIS) high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), we demonstrate better performances of recessed-gate Al2O3 MIS-HEMTs which are fabricated by Fluorine-based Si3N4 etching and chlorine-based AlGaN etching with three etching times (15 s, 17 s and 19 s). The gate leakage current of MIS-HEMT is about three orders of magnitude lower than that of AlGaN/GaN HEMT. Through the recessed-gate etching, the transconductance increases effectively. When the recessed-gate depth is 1.02 nm, the best interface performance with Τit=(0.20-1.59) μs and Dit=(0.55-1.08)×1012 cm-2·eV-1 can be obtained. After chlorine-based etching, the interface trap density reduces considerably without generating any new type of trap. The accumulated chlorine ions and the N vacancies in the AlGaN surface caused by the plasma etching can degrade the breakdown and the high frequency performances of devices. By comparing the characteristics of recessed-gate MIS-HEMTs with different etching times, it is found that a low power chlorine-based plasma etching for a short time (15 s in this paper) can enhance the performances of MIS-HEMTs effectively.